Hi! It's been a wild year. Thanks to Ian Danskin of Innuendo Studios for a conversation on loss, life, happiness, and home (and a little bit about games). Special thanks to Ben Cohn for the music ("File Select" from Land of the Gods, Vol II).

Gaming Broadcast

Ep. 27: Savepoint (The Game's Not Over Yet)

I know it's been a while, but I'm here to prove that this podcast isn't history! Even though this episode is all about history! This week we're joined by Josh Howard, public historian, Everquest enthusiast, bacon admirer, to dig down deep into what it means to love precarious places. From childhood gaming groups and the awkwardness of leaving home to Everquest memorials for dead children, this episode runs the emotional gauntlet. What precious places are you poised to lose? This episode is the finale of "Playing Appalachia", a series of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. To start at the beginning, check out "What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia" with Dr. Elizabeth Catte, followed by our conversation with Cardboard Computer about Kentucky Route Zero to learn more about the relationship between magical realism and Appalachia. The third part of the series is "Rural Flight, Virtually Speaking" with Meredith Wilson, an Appalachian transplant whose experiences in the region have affected the way she makes games (and who she makes games for), with part four introducing us to Appalachian-raised Jerel Culliss (aka King Lemming of Team CoFH) who regales us with tales of LAN parties and Minecraft modding ethics in "Modding Appalachia". In part five and six, "The Streamers of Madison County" and "Death Mountain Lifestyle", we met up with JD's childhood friends, a live streamer known as The Caked Crusader, and an editor who moved out of the area, to talk growing up nerdy in Madison County, North Carolina.  (psst.... Thanks Ian Danskin of Innuendo Studios for editing this episode!) Now, excuse me while I go petition for a National Register of Historic Digital Spaces. Stuff We Mentioned...Everquest IIOnline MemorialsButtzilla Josh Howard, PhD (The Cast)Website: jhowardhistory.comTwitter: @jhowardhistory JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, and other places where delightful podcasts can be found. You can also subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music!

Ep. 26: Appalachians Play Everquest, II (Playing Appalachia Part 7)

So what exactly is a mountain lifestyle? Is it a marketing phrase? A type of view from your window? A bonified set of cultural practices? Whatever it is, it must be pretty awesome, considering how awesomely expensive the mountain lifestyle is getting these days! This week we're joined by Shaun Martin, a Nintendo loving editor working for an educational nonprofit in Greensboro, North Carolina. Originally from Marshall, NC, with family roots dug several generations down, Shaun has first-hand knowledge of the different styles of lives you can find in the Appalachian region of ye Old North State. We dig deep into the phrase "mountain lifestyle", uncovering the multiplicity of lives that make up mountain living including, you guessed it, lifestyles that include gaming! (psst... confused about the episode title?) This episode is part six of "Playing Appalachia", a series of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. To start at the beginning, check out "What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia" with Dr. Elizabeth Catte, followed by our conversation with Cardboard Computer about Kentucky Route Zero to learn more about the relationship between magical realism and Appalachia. The third part of the series is "Rural Flight, Virtually Speaking" with Meredith Wilson, an Appalachian transplant whose experiences in the region have affected the way she makes games (and who she makes games for), with part four introducing us to Appalachian-raised Jerel Culliss (aka King Lemming of Team CoFH) who regales us with tales of LAN parties and Minecraft modding ethics in "Modding Appalachia". In part five, "The Streamers of Madison County", we meet Renee Hill (aka The Caked Crusader), a video game live streamer and nerd extraordinaire whose home base is western North Carolina. Stuff We Mentioned...Marshall, NCGreensboro, NCAsheville, NCA-B EmblemPiedmont Region of NCMadison’s history jailhouseUrban Outfitters ProtestsLegend of ZeldaSNESWii UGameFAQsDonkey Kong CountryFinal Fantasy 7Video Game Rental Shaun Martin (The Cast)Instagram: @spmartin42 JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, and other places delightful podcasts can be found. You can also subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 25: Death Mountain Lifestyle (Playing Appalachia Part 6)

Hey Broadbeans! Today we’re interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special live recording! On March 13th 2018, JD had the great honor of sitting alongside Dr. Gregory Grieve, Dr. Vit Sisler, and Helen Osman for a panel at SXSW titled “Gaming Religion: Finding Faith in Digital Games”. As it turns out, religion and games have a lot to say to one another. Religious themes have supported the story lines of many mainstream games, from World of Warcraft to Halo and Civilizations. Gaming has also been described as a spiritual endeavor by avid gamers, and religious groups are increasingly creating and using games to counter religious stereotypes and teach members about core beliefs and practices. Stay tuned for a unique discussion about the ways that religion, ethics, and digital gaming intersect through the lenses of research, development, and education, and how video games can address issues of tolerance and cultivate civility in the digital age. You may recognize Dr. Grieve from episode 5, “Imagining Play, Religion, and Education”, and we're over-the-moon to have the voices of Dr. Sisler and Helen Osman on this channel for the first time.  Helen Osman is a communications expert who partners with leadership to raise visibility and create momentum for mission-focused and grassroots organizations, including clients such as Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Greg Grieve is a Professor and Head of the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He researches and teaches at the intersection of digital culture, religion, and Asian traditions. Vit Sisler is an Assistant Professor of New Media Studies at Charles University in Prague. His research focuses on serious video games, information and communication technologies in the Middle East, and Islam and digital media. He is also a lead designer of the award-winning video game on contemporary history, Attentat 1942, a 2018 IGF finalist in Excellence in Narrative. To follow along with the audio, watch the intro video by Dr. Heidi Campbell on Youtube and download the presentation visuals from dropbox. Stuff We Mentioned...Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of Silver Blaze (Book)Playing with Religion in Digital Games (Book)Second Life (Game?)Cyber Zen (Book)Buddhism, the Internet, and Digital Media (Book)Methods for Studying Video Games and Religion (Book)Attentat 1942 (Game)NATO Commander (Game)Kuma/War (Game)Harem Adventura (Game)Radwan Kasmiya, Author of Quraish (Person)Special Force (Game)Special Operation (Game)Civilization (Game Series)Overwatch (Game)Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game)The Great Alef Bet Race (Game)Jewish Time Jump (Game)Spent (Game)Noam Pianko (Person)URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy (Organization)Girls Who Code (Organization) Helen Osman (Moderator)LinkedIn: Helen Osman Gregory Grieve, PhD (Panelist)Website: gpgrieve.orgBook: Cyber Zen Vit Sisler, PhD (Panelist)Website: uisk.jinonice.cuni.cz/sisler/  Video Game: Attentat 1942Book: Methods for Studying Video Game and Religions JD (Panelist)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, and other places delightful podcasts can be found. You can also subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 24: Gaming Religion (Live Recording from SXSW 2018)

Creeks aren't the only types of mountain streams in Appalachia. We also have video game live streams! This week we're joined by Renee Hill, a pastry chef, gamer, and video game live streamer known as "The Caked Crusader". Renee currently lives in Madison County, the same county in Western North Carolina where JD (the host) grew up. For some weird reason, a lot of the people Renee meet are in disbelief that an anime loving, tattooed, pink-haired cosplayer could also be an Appalachian native? Weird.    Tune in this week to hear more about representation, mental health, crying during video games, growing up Appalachian and nerdy, and how video games helped Renee connect with others while growing up in the middle of nowhere. Also there are puns. Lots and lots of puns.  This episode is part five of "Playing Appalachia", a series of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. To start at the beginning, check out "What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia" with Dr. Elizabeth Catte, followed by our conversation with Cardboard Computer about Kentucky Route Zero to learn more about the relationship between magical realism and Appalachia. The third part of the series is "Rural Flight, Virtually Speaking" with Meredith Wilson, an Appalachian transplant whose experiences in the region have affected the way she makes games (and who she makes games for), with part four introducing us to Appalachian-raised Jerel Culliss (aka King Lemming of Team CoFH) who regales us with tales of LAN parties and Minecraft modding ethics in "Modding Appalachia". Stuff We Mentioned...Moonshine Popcorn Sutton Anime Sailor Moon Sharkle and Mae from Night in the Woods Stick and Poke Dragon Ball Z Teen Titans Star Wars Atari Pitfall Atari 2600 Sega Genesis Vectorman Princess Leia Undertale Doki Doki Literature Club Actual SunlightScooter from Borderlands 2Bobby from Supernatural JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Renee Hill (The Cast)Twitch: TheCakedCrusaderYouTube: TheCakedCrusaderInstagram:@TheCakedCrusaderTwitter: @cakedcrusader13 Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inventory? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 23: The Streamers of Madison County (Playing Appalachia Part 5)

What do Minecraft and Appalachia have in common? They both have people trying to modify them. So could Minecraft mods teach us something about how to go about ethically modding Appalachia? This week we're joined by Jerel Culliss (aka King Lemming), an Appalachian-raised engineer who moonlights as a reknown Minecraft modder. Jerel is founder of Team CoFH, the group responsible for Thermal Expansion, a mod that adds technology, like machines, to the world of Minecraft. Coincidentally, there's also been some recent media hype about bringing big names in tech to the Appalachian region (like Amazon HQ, for instance). Not to mention the fact that "silicon hollar" is really coming into its own as a google-worthy buzzword. But adding technology, whether that technology is pixelated or Appalachian, isn't as simple and straight forward as you might think. Tune in to learn more about the lovely LAN history behind Team CoFH, the ethics of hacking and modding video games, and ways to imagine a tech-savvy Appalachia that doesn't leave the dedicated fan-base that lives there out in the cold with the mobs. Jerel Culliss is an engineer and hacker originally from Southwest Virginia. He has a PhD in electrical engineering and currently lives in Knoxville, TN. He is most well known online as "King Lemming," head of Team CoFH and the co-creator of Thermal Expansion, a popular mod for Minecraft. This episode is part four of "Playing Appalachia", a series of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. To start at the beginning, check out "What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia" with Dr. Elizabeth Catte, followed by our conversation with Cardboard Computer about Kentucky Route Zero, their game set in rural Kentucky, to learn more about the relationship between magical realism and Appalachia. The third part of the series is "Rural Flight, Virtually Speaking" with Meredith Wilson, an Appalachian transplant whose experiences in the region have affected the way she makes games (and who she makes games for).  Stuff We Mentioned...MinecraftCaipirinhaLAN PartyDiabloEverquest (aka "the Dark Souls of MMOs")Half-LifeVideo Game ModDestiny 2Uncanny ValleyStarCraftCounter-StrikeEsportsThey Are BillionsHackingCyber Security ConsultantFate of the WorldMINECONCynycalMine Little Pony: Friendship is Crafting Mod JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Jerel Culliss aka King Lemming (The Cast)Website: TeamCoFH.comTwitter: @KingLemmingCoFH  Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inventory? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 22: Modding Appalachia (Playing Appalachia Part 4)

Meredith Wilson is participating in rural flight, virtually speaking. As young people from Appalachia increasingly move out of the region, Meredith Wilson has done something strange: moved to rural Virginia to make virtual reality video games.  Meredith Wilson is a public health epidemiologist turned video game developer who was a participant in Oculus Launchpad 2017. Wilson used to do public health research at Virginia Tech's Biocomplexity Institute, designing mobile games about diseases that were literally going viral, and appears to have been permanently infected with the game development bug. She's the founder and lead game designer for Bedhouse Games, a small independent video game studio based out of rural Virginia that is currently developing a GearVR science fiction flight simulation-esque video game. While not originally from the Appalachian region, Wilson's work, as well as the way she works, has been impacted by her experience living there. From the types of characters she designs, to how she thinks about the relationship between ethics and education, and even her opinion on eating rabbit, Appalachia has clearly had an impact on this tenderfoot transplant. This episode is part three of "Playing Appalachia", a series of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. To start at the beginning, check out Ep. 18: What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia with Dr. Elizabeth Catte. You can also take a listen to our conversation with Cardboard Computer about Kentucky Route Zero, their game set in rural Kentucky, to learn more about the relationship between magical realism and Appalachia. Stuff We Mentioned...VR.5Games for Change SummitKiya Epidemiology Virus Tracker Microsoft Flight Simulator Descent Star Wars: TIE Fighter Alien (film)Battle of Blair Mountain "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, VA The "Harvey Weinsteins of Science" @darbianSRL (a Super Mario speedrunner) JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Meredith Wilson (The Cast)Website: BedhouseGames.comTwitter: @papermantis Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 21: Rural Flight, Virtually Speaking (Playing Appalachia Part 3)

In the golden age of massively multiplayer online games like Overwatch and Destiny, why are some players choosing to go it alone? Is it a radical act of self-care, anti-social tendencies, an effect of online harassment, or something else? Take a break from Gaming Broad(cast)'s regularly scheduled programming and tune in to this special LIVE recording of a Gaming Broad(cast) moderated panel, "Reclaiming Basements in a Multiplayer Era: Why We Game Alone". Join Andrea Ayres (Lemonsucker Games) and Ian Danskin (Innuendo Studios), as well as the main broad herself, JD Mallindine, at PAX South 2018 to explore the social and psychological reasons players are reclaiming their alone time. Don't forget to check out #ReclaimTheBasement on Twitter to see what the community had to say about gaming alone!  Download Presentation Visuals Research...Playing alone v playing with others: Differences in player experiences and indicators of wellbeing (Vella, et. al 2015)At Least Nine Ways to Play: Gamer Mentalities (Kallio, et. al 2011)Online-only friends, real-life friends or strangers? Differential associations with passion and social capital in video game play (Perry, et. al 2018)Social Context of Video Game Play (Vella, et. al 2016) Teenage Girls Are Playing Video Games. You Just Might Not Hear Them from Kotaku (Suellentrop, 2015)Teens, Technology and Friendship by the Pew Research Center (Lenhart, et. al 2015)The Emergence of Solitude as a Constructive Domain of Solitude in Early Adolescence (Larson, 1997)The "social" facilitation of eating without the presence of others: Self-reflection on eating makes food taste better and people eat more (Nakata, et. al 2017)When Novels Were Bad For You in Smithsonian Magazine (North, 2014)Public Displays of Play: Studying Online Games in Physical Settings (Taylor, et. a. 2014)Children of the 80s, Never Fear Video Games Did Not Ruin Your Life from Smithsonian Magazine (Newman, 2017)The Fierce Triumph of Loneliness from Catapult (Fitzgerald, 2016)How to be Alone by Sara MaitlandSolitude by Philip KochRepublic of Noise: The Loss of Solitude in Schools and Culture by Diana SenechalLoneliness and Solitude in Education by Julian SternAlone Together by Sherry TurkleA Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf  JD (The Broad & Moderator)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Andrea Ayres (The Cast & Panelist)Twitter: @missafayresInstagram: @afad435Website: Ayresdeets.comLemonsucker Games: lemonsuckergames.com Ian Danskin (The Cast & Panelist)Twitter: @InnuendoStudiosYoutube Channel: Innuendo StudiosPatreon: Innuendo StudiosTumblr: InnuendoStudios   Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 20: #ReclaimTheBasement (Live Recording from PAX South 2018)

It's near impossible to talk about Appalachia and video games, and games that "get Appalachia right", without talking about Kentucky Route Zero. The game itself is mysterious, filled with empty space and people with featureless faces, a five-part digital theater that leaves enough room for Appalachia to rush in. What is it about this surreal point and click adventure game that feels so real? In part two of Gaming Broadcast's "Playing Appalachia" series, we're joined by Cardboard Computer, the makers of Kentucky Route Zero, to learn what the magical has to say about the real (especially as it relates to Appalachia) and the surprising ways Appalachians responded to seeing their home reanimated in digital form. Cardboard Computer = games by Jake Elliot, Tamas Kemenczy, and Ben Babbitt. They're currently working on Kentucky Route Zero, a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it. Acts I-IV of Kentucky Route Zero are available now, with Act V available sometime other than now. For part one of Gaming Broadcast’s series Playing Appalachia, a collection of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers, check out Ep. 18 What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia with Dr. Elizabeth Catte. Stuff We Mentioned...Kentucky Route ZeroMammoth CaveColossal Cave AdventureMark FisherHistory of Kentucky UnionsSpirographMagical RealismGabriel García Márquez and The Autumn of the PatriarchIsabella Allende and The House of the SpiritsSouthern GothicFlannery O'ConnorTennessee Williams and The Glass Menagerie"It's a lie, but not everything in it is false." JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Cardboard Computer (The Cast)Website: CardboardComputer.comTwitter: @cardboardcompyInstagram: @cardboardcompyKentucky Route Zero: KentuckyRouteZero.com  Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 19: Kentucky Route Zero and the Route to Appalachia (Playing Appalachia Part 2)

In 2016, the United States collectively pointed a trembling finger of accusation at the Appalachian region. The verdict was in: America was screwed, and “Trump Country” was to blame. Journalists began to flock to the region, looking to demystify and correctly identify the dysfunctional roots of Appalachia and its people. Think piece after think piece was published, many (if not most) reducing the complex and nuanced history of the region into a singular narrative about a backwards and impoverished white working class that were desperate and foolish enough to vote against their best interest. But being exposed to only this narrative does more than just oversimplify, it also obfuscates and distracts from more sinister stories of power and greed. Elizabeth Catte, author of What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, joins us to start a new and more nuanced conversation about Appalachia. In this episode, Dr. Catte frankly assesses the history of Appalachian stereotypes and the reasons why these stereotypes became and remain so popular. By providing us with examples of writing, art, and video games that “get it right” about Appalachia, Elizabeth reveals why it matters so much that we complicate the current Appalachian narrative not just for Appalachia’s sake, but for the sake of the United States as a whole. Elizabeth Catte is a historian and writer originally from East Tennessee. She has a PhD in history and currently lives in Staunton, Virginia (pronounced Stanton) and is the director of Passel, a historical consulting firm. Her book, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia will be out from Belt Publishing February 2018. This episode is the first in Gaming Broadcast’s new series Playing Appalachia, a collection of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. Stuff We Mentioned...Appalachian Regional CommissionBelt MagazineOhio Valley ReSource Journalism CollaborativeWhitesburg Kentucky Appalshop WMMTThe Trillbilly Worker’s Party PodcastWest Virginia Public Broadcasting Inside Appalachia "The Struggle to Stay"WUOT KnoxvilleDaily YonderThe Bitter SouthernerSoutherlyScalawag MagazineSarah SmarshQueer Appalachia and “Electric Dirt”Photographers like Roger May, Raymond Thompson, and Megan King100 Days of AppalachiaWMMT’s “Calls from Home”Jesse Donaldson’s "On Homesickness: A Plea (In Place)"Night in the WoodsKentucky Route Zero JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Elizabeth Catte, PhD (The Cast)Website: ElizabethCatte.comTwitter: @elizabethcatteBook: What You Are Getting Wrong About AppalachiaHistorical Consulting Firm: Passel Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!

Ep. 18: What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia (Playing Appalachia Part 1)

What does it mean to work in AAA game development? In the gaming community, the term "AAA" (pronounced “triple A”) comes with a lot of baggage. While at face value AAA is just an informal way to classify games and games studios that have the highest development and marketing budgets, the category also comes with negative conotations. You’d think more money meant less problems for game developers, right? Wrong! AAA studios are often seen as giant, painfully selfish corporations that care about one thing and one thing alone: money. From "lazy" to "immoral" and "untalented", game developers at AAA studios are often accused of having a myriad of moral failings, regardless of how much control they have over the final product.  Rachel Hammond, a ten-year veteran of the gaming industry, explains the big ol’ sad bits that are part of these big ol' games projects. From dealing with bad decisions made by top executives and being unable to respond directly to fans because of corporate gag orders, to emotionally coping with the vitriolic comments and death threats directed towards AAA studios (and the people that work there), Rachel has seen it all! But it’s not all bad. Rachel’s love for programming video games (which started when she was 5 years old), hasn’t been squished by the pressures of the AAA space. Rachel, even after all this time, still loves her work in the games industry, even if the games industry doesn’t always love her back! Seriously. It's amazing. She genuinely loves making games that other people will love. Tune in to Episode 17 to learn about the issues that face AAA developers, and what we can do to help make the gaming community just a TEENSY WEENSY bit more empathetic. Rachel Hammond has been making video games of all sizes for more than 10 years, and she still remembers the game review "Congratulations, you made a 6 year-old cry". She currently works in the AAA game space at a company that will inevitably be a poorly kept secret as the podcast goes on. This episode is part three of the “Developer Doldrums” series, a collection of conversations with game developers about the not-so-happy bits that pop up when making play objects. For part one, check out Episode 15: Grief, Game Development, and the Emotional Significance of Oatmeal with Andrea Ayres of Lemonsucker Games to learn how the loss of a parent and an eating disorder (plus therapy) can lead to making a video game. Or, for something with a little less death, check out part two, "Episode 16: Long Distance Bromance" to hear from indie game studio Hydezeke on the pleasures and pains of being in a long distance game dev relationship. Oh, did I mention there's also a mini game in that episode? It's games, all the way down! Stuff we mentioned...AAA (video game industry)BratzSpongeBob SquarePantsTransmedia storytellingRatatouille (video game)Rats are very smart and gr8 at gamesSesame Street: Cookie’s Counting CarnivalVideo Game Crash of 1983The funniest joke in the worldWarren Spector and the Denius-Sams Gaming AcademyJohn Romero Reddit thread: Game programmers: What game mechanic are you proud to have implemented?Dunning-Kruger effectSXSW Gaming 2018 Panel: IH8URGAME: Fostering Empathy in Gaming Communities JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Rachel Hammond (The Cast)Twitter: @xespera Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Los Kurados for the use of their song "Rojo Y Azul" for the intro and outro music of our podcast.

Ep. 17: Triple A Blues (Developer Doldrums Part 3)

Long distance relationships are enough to make anyone sad. Throw in making a game together? Even sadder! How do long distance game developers stay in the game? As hard as it is to build something together when you’re not, you know, actually together, Michael and Ben of Hydezeke are proof that with the right person (and for the right project), even distance can’t hold you back. Equal parts funny as it is emotionally honest, this episode gives hope to the idea that you can find a project partner to help you stay afloat in the sometimes turbulent waters of  “creative collaboration”.    Michael Savage-Benoist [Benwa] is a game designer and dog enthusiast from Fairfax, Virginia. Ben Cohn is a music composer and banjo enthusiast from Orlando, Florida. What started out as a middle-school friendship has, 8 years later, became Hydezeke [Hide-zeek], an indie game studio.  Hydezeke is beset by the troubles of long-distance collaboration and conflicting life events, but Ben and Michael maintain their bond through their love for game design and bashing Sonic games. Flamberge, their flagship game still in development, was successfully Kickstarted (and accepted to Steam Greenlight, when that was still a thing) about three years ago. The extended development period is a bummer not only for the fans and supporters of Flamberge, but for Michael and Ben too. As tough as some of the comments are, Michael and Ben refuse to give up on their vision for the game’s future, and remain determined to deliver a good, quality game to the fans who have stuck with them all this time. This episode is part two of the “Developer Doldrums” series, a collection of conversations with game developers about the not-so-happy bits that happen during the creation of these digital play objects. For part one, check out Episode 15: Grief, Game Development, and the Emotional Significance of Oatmeal with Andrea Ayres of Lemonsucker Games. Stuff we mentioned...Artemis FowlLACMAAlphonse Mucha Princess Hyacinth Magfest 2017 AwardsFlamberge KickstarterFlamberge on STEAMBumble Rumble by Ben Cohn (The Dating Game Music) JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Hydezeke (The Cast)Website: Hydezeke.comMichael’s Twitter: @hydezekeBen’s Twitter: @bionicbenboBen’s Soundcloud: bionicbenbo Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Los Kurados for the use of their song "Rojo Y Azul" for the intro and outro music of our podcast.

Ep. 16: Long Distance Bromance (Developer Doldrums Part 2)

 Andrea Ayres, creator of The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne, makes me feel a lot of things about hot cereal. The making of the Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne shows that oatmeal has more to do with grief and game development than you might expect. Born on the heels of grief at the loss of a parent, and influenced by Andrea's personal experiences with social anxiety and an eating disorder, The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne is an interactive story about a painfully introverted college student who needs to make oatmeal in the communal kitchen of her dorm. While the game challenges you to find the right words to help Samantha as she embarks on her journey to the other side of her bedroom door, the development of the game itself challenged Andrea to explore her own relationship with mental health, anxiety, and loss.  This episode is part one of the “Developer Doldrums” series, a collection of conversations with game developers about the not-so-happy bits that hide behind the curtain of our digital play objects. Andrea Ayres is a founder and the head writer at Lemonsucker Games. She also writes about politics and representation in pop-culture and beyond. She enjoys coffee, cats, and phasing between inter-dimensional realities. Stuff we mentioned...The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha BrowneEating DisordersSocial AnxietySchlesinger's CatDestiny 2Journey Brie Code on the concepts of "Tend-and-Befriend" and "Fight-or-Flight" in video games Samantha Browne at Indiecade 2016 JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Andrea Ayres (The Cast)Twitter: @missafayresInstagram: @afad435Website: Ayresdeets.comLemonsucker Games: lemonsuckergames.com Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Los Kurados for the use of their song "Rojo Y Azul" for the intro and outro music of our podcast.

Ep. 15: Grief, Game Development, and the Emotional Significance of Oatmeal (Developer Doldrums Part 1)

 There’s a lot of assumptions folks make about violence and video games, from beliefs that violence in video games cause real life violent crime, to the stereotype that violence in video games is intended only for our more dudely players. But what about the violence that happens in real life sports? Does tackling and dragging someone to the ground for a ball make you more likely to tackle and drag someone to the ground out in the real world? And do women really like all that brutal physicality anyways? As far as brutality goes, the sport of rugby is about as brutal as they come. Sometimes it hurts to watch rugby, much less play it. Legend has it that rugby was invented in England in 1823, when William Webb Ellis decided the rules of soccer (“football”) didn’t apply to him, picked up the ball with his hands, and ran the length of the pitch to score the first ever try. The Tulane Women’s Rugby Team follows in this great rugby tradition of smashing expectations, and are currently ranked third in the country after only two years of competitive play. This week we're joined by members of Tulane University's Women's Rugby Team, Emma Peterson and Hayley Alexander. Emma and Hayley want folks to know that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the "violence" in rugby, and that the respect and comraderie of rugby is actually the selling point of the sport... not the bruises and the black eyes (however fetching they can be). Unfortunately, Hayley and Emma have found that rugby isn’t always thought of as a “women’s sport”, mostly due to assumptions about what genders are interested in physically brutal gameplay. And when people DO think of women rugby players, they often assume the women are all hyper-masculine drunken lesbians who are into bar fights. While there undoubtedly are rugby women who fall into those categories ("shoot the boot" is a real and terrifying thing, apparently), Hayley and Emma discuss some of the stereotype-shattering aspects of the women’s rugby community, from teams filled to the brim with sorority girls, to winning kicking competitions at rugby tournaments in pencil skirts. Emma Peterson, originally from Northern California, is a graduate student at Tulane University, getting her M.A. in English. She plays for Tulane Women's Rugby Club.   Hayley Alexander, originally from Bellevue, WA, is a senior at Tulane University, getting her M.P.H (Masters in Public Health). She's the president of the Tulane University Women's Rugby Club.   This episode is the fifth (and final) episode in Gaming Broad(ly)'s series on violence and video games. For the full conversation, start with “Episode 10: Moral Combat—Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong” with researchers Chris Ferguson and Patrick Markey on the (lack of) data about video games causing real life acts of violence, followed by “Episode 11: Why Are You So Angry?”, with Ian Danskin of Innuendo Studios, to learn more about why folks get so, well, aggressive about making sure games stay violent. Part three will bring you to "Episode 12: Why Are You Afraid of Virtual Reality?" with Gijs Molsbergen for a discussion on virtual reality, violence and trauma, and the responsibility of VR advocates to make psychologically healthy and enjoyable VR experiences. In Episode 13, "The Unbearable Anxiety of Tweeting", we looked at how just the FEAR of violence in online gaming spaces causes ripple effects that impact even our conversations and interpersonal relationships.    Stuff we mentioned...How to Play RugbyTulane UniversityRugby BallMoon WalkingShoot the Boot JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Tulane Women's Rugby Club (The Cast)Facebook: TulaneUWRFC Instagram: @Tulanewrfc Website: www.tulanewrfc.wixsite.com/tuwrfc  Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Los Kurados for the use of their song "Rojo Y Azul" for the intro and outro music of our podcast.

Ep. 14: The Violent Femmes of Women's Rugby (Violence & Video Games Part 5)

Subtweeting is all the rage these days. And no, we don't mean tweeting from a Subway. Rae Sterling, writer and twitter role-player, joins us this week to talk about how (and why) passive-aggressiveness crops up in online gaming spaces. Join us this week to learn more about Twitter roleplay, the benefit and detriment of anonymity on the internet, and the toxic effects of passive-aggression on community-building.  While the anonymity of the internet is what has allowed Rae to really delve deep into the cathartic (and often therapeutic)  world of role-play, Rae thinks that anonymity also makes space for people to dredge up the worst part of themselves in the form of trolling, pile-ons, and emotional abuse. Subtweeting and vaguebooking is a way that a lot of folks deal with the fear of internet aggression, but these indirect forms of communication wind up creating toxic play spaces. Subtweeting, indirectly tweeting something about someone without mentioning their name (even though it's KIND OF clear who the person tweeting is referring to), can have surprisingly devastating effects on individuals and communities. Add in an anxiety disorder? The effects become ten-fold! This episode is part four in Gaming Broad(ly)'s series on violence and video games. Continuing from previous conversations, this week we look at how just the FEAR of violence in online gaming spaces causes ripple effects that impact even our conversations and interpersonal relationships. For the full conversation, start with “Episode 10: Moral Combat—Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong” with researchers Chris Ferguson and Patrick Markey on the (lack of) data about video games causing real life acts of violence, followed by “Episode 11: Why Are You So Angry?”, with Ian Danskin of Innuendo Studios, to learn more about why folks get so, well, aggressive about making sure games stay violent. Part three will bring you to "Episode 12: Why Are You Afraid of Virtual Reality?" with Gijs Molsbergen for a discussion on virtual reality, violence and trauma, and the responsibility of VR advocates to make psychologically healthy and enjoyable VR experiences. Rae Sterling (they/them) is a gender adjacent in-progress writer of both comics and prose based in Austin, Texas. In their spare time, they work full time at Austin Books and Comics and at reading more than your daily suggested serving of comics to keep up with the ever-moving world. They participate in online role-playing on Twitter and Tumblr, play Overwatch, and describe themselves as "bad at video games". Their passions include speaking loudly and to whomever will listen about both LGBT+ comic books, diversity in comics, and the importance of all-ages comics in the lives of young readers. In Austin, Rae is working hard to become a source of information to both schools and parents for all-ages graphic novels and comic books. Stuff we mentioned...Slime RancherDream DaddyOverwatchFighting Games (like Moral Combat, Tekken, etc.)Twitter RoleplayTumblr RoleplayShadow BanningVaguebookingSubtweetingPassive-aggressive behavior JD (The Broad)Website: GamingBroadly.comTwitter: @JayDeeCepticonInstagram: @JayDeeCepticon Rae Stirling (The Cast)Twitter: @dragonosaurusWebsite: Genretastic.com Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Los Kurados for the use of their song "Rojo Y Azul" for the intro and outro music of our podcast.

Ep. 13: The Unbearable Anxiety of Tweeting (Violence & Video Games Part 4)

A broad who games talking about gaming (broadly speaking). Gaming Broad(cast) is a (mostly) series-based internet radio show that explores all the places play exists. Official podcast of GamingBroadly.com.

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Gaming Broadcast

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